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Copywork
About This Passage
This short, calm sentence hides something deeply sad and strange. In Winston's world, children are taught to spy on grown-ups and report anyone who breaks the rules, even their own parents. So grown-ups have learned to be afraid of their own sons and daughters. The author calls this 'almost normal,' and that plain little word makes it even more frightening: in this place, a family turning against itself is just an everyday thing.
It was almost normal for people over thirty to be frightened of their own children.
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Tell what happens in this chapter in order: a knock at the door makes Winston afraid, but when he opens it, it is only his tired neighbor Mrs Parsons, who needs help with her blocked kitchen sink; Winston goes to the Parsons flat and kneels down to clear the dirty water from the pipe; while he is there, the Parsons children, dressed in their Spies uniforms, point a toy gun at him, call him a traitor, and leap around him shouting; as Winston leaves, the boy shoots him in the neck with a catapult, and Winston sees a look of helpless fright on Mrs Parsons's face; back in his flat, Winston thinks about how children in this world are trained to spy on grown-ups, even their own parents, and he writes more in his secret diary. When you reach the part where the children attack Winston, slow down and tell why it is so frightening that these children are not really playing.
Discussion Questions
- When Winston hears a knock at the door, he is filled with fear, but it turns out to be only his neighbor Mrs Parsons asking for help with her sink. What does it show about Winston's world that an ordinary knock can fill him with such fear, and why? What part of the chapter helps you decide?
- The Parsons children shout that Winston is a traitor and treat it like fun. What do their words and actions reveal about them, and why? What part of the chapter helps you decide?
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Vocabulary
Item 1
The good, easy feeling you get when something you feared turns out to be fine; Winston feels this when the scary knock is only his neighbor at the door.
Item 2
Dull, gray, and gloomy, with no cheer in it; the neighbor speaks in this kind of tired, whining voice.
Item 3
Cruel and fierce, wanting to hurt; the Parsons boy points his toy gun at Winston in this nasty, mean way.
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Critical Thinking
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